Lu…
Deng Paopao was just about to step forward to greet him when he saw that Lu Zheng did not even glance at him. Lu Zheng simply waved his hand casually in their direction, as if by chance.
Deng Paopao was a shrewd person. He instinctively stopped in his tracks. At the same time, Sun Niangniang had already grabbed his arm.
The two exchanged a glance, tacitly fell silent, then quietly retreated to one side, standing in the crowd as invisible onlookers.
“Isn’t Mr Lu a doctor? When did he become a magician?”
“How should I know? But no matter what, we cannot let Mr Lu suffer any grievance.”
“That goes without saying!”
Deng Paopao and Sun Niangniang whispered to each other on the side, while the two parties in the magic duel had already prepared themselves.
Wu Junyi sneered coldly. “What magic trick are you planning to perform? Playing cards? Did you bring any props?”
“Props?” Lu Zheng chuckled. “A true magician can use anything around him as a prop. Why would he need to prepare anything specially?”
The implication was clear. Anyone who needed specially prepared props was not a true magician.
It was a rather broad attack, but apart from Sun Yao, the most senior magician present, and another magician, none of the other magicians around them truly minded. Everyone knew this was just verbal sparring to belittle each other, not aimed at anyone else.
“So what do you need?” Wu Junyi asked.
“I need…” Lu Zheng scanned the surroundings, pointed at a young man, and asked, “Is the water in that paper cup in your hand finished? Can I borrow it?”
“Me?”
The young man, who had been concentrating on watching the drama, was stunned. He pointed at himself, looked down at the paper cup, then turned to his boss, the beautiful magician.
The beautiful magician, Ling Yuchen, was no longer as sexy as she had been on stage. Her slightly charming oval face was full of excitement from watching the spectacle.
So when she saw her assistant looking over, she decisively nodded.
Then Lu Zheng had an empty disposable paper cup in his hand.
Wu Junyi frowned, unable to understand what trick Lu Zheng could perform with a disposable paper cup.
Was he hiding some small object to produce from inside the cup?
Or using the cup as a misdirection to transfer a prop from elsewhere?
Wu Junyi stared intently at Lu Zheng’s hands, thinking he would see what trick the man could pull off.
Lu Zheng rolled up both sleeves, showing that he had nothing hidden in his arms.
He then turned the paper cup upside down, shook it vigorously a few times, and showed the opening to everyone around, indicating that there was nothing inside.
Then…
Holding the paper cup in his left hand, he gently reached upwards with his right, making an elegant gesture, and pointed at the cup.
“Done. The trick is complete,” Lu Zheng said with a smile.
Wu Junyi: ???
Everyone: ???
Lu Zheng beckoned to the young man again. When the man approached, he handed the paper cup back to him.
“WTK!” The man took the cup and was immediately shocked. “What is going on?”
“What happened?”
“What is the situation?”
“What is wrong?”
Everyone looked at the man. He quickly explained, “The cup is full of water!”
“What?”
“Why?”
“How is that possible?”
Creating water from nothing was a very simple entry-level magic trick. Let alone the many magicians present, even magicians’ assistants could perform it.
But… everyone knew the principle behind this trick very well, and performing it required specialised props!
How had Lu Zheng done it?
He was standing right in the middle of the crowd, with empty sleeves, no specially made table, no specially made cup, no auxiliary props. He had just used a clean, empty disposable paper cup and made it fill with water out of thin air.
“Impossible!”
Wu Junyi’s pupils contracted sharply. He strode over to the man and saw that the paper cup in his hand was indeed full of water.
Wu Junyi suddenly looked up. “You helped him swap it for a cup of water!”
The only possibility was that in the moment Lu Zheng handed the cup back, the man had used misdirection to fool everyone and swapped the empty cup for one filled with water.
“I did not!” the man hurriedly denied.
Having the drama land on her own head, Ling Yuchen was also displeased. “This is my assistant!”
“But there is no other…”
“Alright, alright, it is no big deal. I was just casually returning the paper cup to him. I did not expect it to cause a misunderstanding,” Lu Zheng said, waving his hand. “Which one is your assistant? Have him give me another paper cup and I will perform it again.”
Lu Zheng looked at Wu Junyi with a calm smile. “Do not rush. Do not worry. I will let you watch it once more.”
Wu Junyi: “…”
Soon, Wu Junyi’s assistant fetched an empty paper cup from the water dispenser, checked it thoroughly three times, and then handed it to Lu Zheng.
Then…
The same actions, the same steps.
This time, Lu Zheng did not hand the cup to anyone else. He gave it directly to Wu Junyi.
Wu Junyi held the cup full of water and fell into an indescribable silence.
“Did you figure it out?” Lu Zheng asked with a smile.
Wu Junyi said nothing.
“It does not matter if you did not. I will perform another trick. If you can figure that one out, it will still count as my loss,” Lu Zheng said smiling.
Wu Junyi looked up sharply. In truth, he already regretted it, but there was no regret medicine in the world. He was also unwilling to admit defeat, so he could not help wanting to see Lu Zheng’s second trick.
“The second trick is also very simple. I see your assistant has a notebook,” Lu Zheng said, pointing at the female assistant beside Wu Junyi. She was holding a leather notebook to record any sudden instructions from Wu Junyi.
“Is this notebook an ordinary one or a special prop?”
“An ordinary notebook,” the female assistant answered instinctively.
Wu Junyi glared at her, startling her into a shiver.
“Scaring a woman is hardly impressive. Are you afraid to let me perform?”
Wu Junyi snorted coldly. “Continue!”
“Fine!” Lu Zheng nodded and smiled at the female assistant. “Now, tear out any blank page from the notebook, or to avoid waste, a used page will do.”
The female assistant timidly glanced at Wu Junyi. Seeing her boss nod expressionlessly, she hurriedly opened the notebook, tore out a blank page, stepped forward, and tried to hand it to Lu Zheng.
“No, no, no! No need to give it to me!” Lu Zheng stepped back repeatedly. “You hold it, in case your boss suspects I tampered with the paper.”
“Oh.” The female assistant held the blank page and quickly stepped back.
“Good. Now, please hold the bottom of the paper and raise it in front of your chest, a little distance from yourself,” Lu Zheng instructed.
The female assistant obediently extended her arm, pinched one corner of the blank page, and held it vertically in front of her.
“Excellent. Very standard posture,” Lu Zheng said with a smile. He had learned how to control the audience in magic performances. “Get ready. Do not be frightened.”
Female assistant: (°ー°〃)
Wu Junyi asked impatiently, “What exactly are you going to do?”
Lu Zheng smiled faintly. “Just now it was creating water from nothing. Now, naturally, it is creating fire from nothing.”
“What?”
“Whoosh!”
“Ah!!!”
Suddenly, the upper half of the blank page burst into flames, burning quite intensely.
The female assistant was startled, instinctively let go, and the burning notebook page fluttered down to the ground in front of her.
“Please note that from beginning to end, I never touched that paper!” Lu Zheng shrugged and looked at Wu Junyi. “My two tricks are done. Now it is your turn. Please explain them.”
Wu Junyi: “…”
Everyone: “…”
